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Friday, July 16




Ideas

Have We Put A Halt To Evolution? "It is easy to argue that many, perhaps most, of us would not have survived to pass on our genes without the benefits of modern technology. Now that we have eliminated many of the worst infectious diseases from our cities, some even say that we are no longer subject to the destiny of natural selection. For 21st-century human beings, could evolution have come to a full stop?" Prospect 07/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 9:49 pm

Visual Arts

Globalism... Hold The Cliches "As a result of cultural and economic shifts in the art world, exploding globalism, and the high costs of more traditional shows, a growing number of exhibitions both in the US and abroad are devoted to replacing clichéd preconceptions with the vital, modern work of contemporary artists from a wide variety of cultures." Christian Science Monitor 07/16/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 10:05 pm

Troubled Times For Seattle Museums Regina Hackett trains a tough eye on Seattle-area museums and finds a troubled landscape. The Bellevue Art Museum is still hoping to reopen this fall. The Henry Gallery is struggling with a reduced budget. The Seattle Art Museum, planning a major expansion of its home and hoping to open a large sculpture park, plans to close for a year during construction... Seattle Post-Intelligencer 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 6:18 pm

A New Art Critic's Education Seattle's The Stranger magazine gets a new art critic and he's a bit put off by his reception in local galleries. "There is a mentality and an attitude about art--perhaps stemming from a protectiveness toward it, since it can be so easily dismissed--whose core conceit is exclusion: You don't have the tools to understand this; you shouldn't be here. Elitism has driven me away from the art world several times over the years--in Chicago, in New York, and, yes, in Seattle. (Curiously, in London of all places, I never encountered such starchiness.) And this has been true for many of my friends--smart, credentialed people. It's the real crisis--more than funding, more than education--that plagues contemporary American art." The Stranger 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 5:15 pm

DC Gives $40 Million To Corcoran Gallery The District of Columbia city council has voted to give $40 million to the Corcoran Gallery to help finance its new Frank Gehry wing. Yahoo! 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 5:13 pm

Music

Tonight - A New Millennium In Chicago Design critics have been raving about Chicago's new Millennium Park. But tonight is the real tes, when the first concert is given in the Frank Gehry-designed structure. "The pavilion's most distinctive features are the curled, stainless steel panels that frame the stage like a bank of gray, shimmering clouds. The stage itself, ample enough for a 100-member orchestra and 150-member chorus, is lined with light reddish-brown Douglas fir. Fixed seating for 4,000 stretches back from the stage, and Millennium Park officials estimate that the lawn, crisscrossed by a metal trellis that holds the amplification system, can hold up to 7,000 more listeners." Chicago Sun-Times 07/16/04
Posted: 07/16/2004 6:47 am

Albuquerque Orchestra Files Bankruptcy "The Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a move that comes as a shock to the orchestra's music director." Albuquerque Tribune 07/13/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 9:38 pm

Box G - Eau D'Opera Robert mailer Anderson is a 35-year-old San Francisco novelist who reserves Box G at the San Francisco Opera every season for himself and eight of his closest buddies. "Last Christmas, Anderson bought his crew tuxedos to wear on their nights at the Opera House, but he still felt they were missing a certain je ne sais quoi." So he had a parfumier mix a special scent for the occasion. "To top it all off, the San Francisco Opera gift shop decided to sell the scent (for $120), named, appropriately enough, Box G." SF Weekly 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 9:14 pm

Classical Downloads - Not Just For Pop Anymore "The normal share of business for classical music in the US is about 2.5% of the overall music market so, in terms of turnover, it's relatively small. But on iTunes we represent between 6-8% of sales in any given week, so we have orders of magnitude more of the market online than offline. Yet a quick tour of current classical websites is disappointing." The Guardian (UK) 07/16/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 8:48 pm

Arts Issues

Ben Cameron To Silicon Valley Arts Leaders: "Nothing says more about the moment we are in than a report from the Chronicle of Philanthropy that said in fiscal year '02, charitable giving in this country fell 1.2 percent overall to all causes. Charitable giving to arts and culture fell 26.5 percent in the same year. And as a result, we are facing a moment of unprecedented stress and urgency." San Jose Mercury News 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 7:24 pm

Saudi Arabia's New Cultural Policy Saudi Arabia says it will undertake a "massive restructuring of the Kingdom’s cultural and antiquities sector," making it the "cornerstone" of the national tourism policy. “We are not alone in this (focus on cultural tourism). According to the World Tourism Organization, all nations are embracing the increasing interest among world travelers in learning and experiencing other cultures. Cultural tourism today is one of the largest and fastest growing forms of tourism.” Arab News 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 5:08 pm

Berkeley Commits to Arts The city of Berkeley, California has decided to make a major new commitment to the arts. "Affecting thousands of artists and 130 nonprofit organizations, the plan restructures Berkeley’s arts policy, setting a goal of eventually doubling arts grants and improving local artists’ chances of winning further grants." The Daily Californian 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 4:40 pm

People

Bobby Fischer Arrested Former chess champion Bobby Fischer has been arrested and detained in Japan by the request of US authorities. "The arrest capped a cat-and-mouse game between U.S. authorities and Fischer, who shuttled among several nations, including Japan, the Philippines and Hungary, to avoid arrest. A grand jury in Washington charged him with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by going to Yugoslavia for the chess match against Boris Spassky." Washington Post 07/16/04
Posted: 07/16/2004 10:25 am

Sondheim In The Round At 74, Stephen Sondheim remains "available to his work, ever ready to amend and develop. As a result no two revivals are likely to sound the same. The small-bore Sweeney Todd at Trafalgar Square at the end of the month will be worlds apart from the full-orchestra Royal Opera House production, yet both are true to concept, as are many fringe and amateur stagings; there are 17 Sweeneys this summer across the UK and North America. For a man without a Broadway blockbuster or a pop-chart song, Sondheim has unrivalled diversity to his appeal." La Scena Musicale 07/13/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 9:44 pm

Theatre

The Actors Contract Details are emerging about the new contract between actors and producers. "The pact includes an annual 3% wage increase over the contract's four-year life, along with "meaningful increases in health-fund contributions" to stabilize the fund "for the foreseeable future." The two sides have also agreed to experiment with a new tiered salary system for national tours. The current weekly minimums under the old Production pact are $1,354 for actors in a musical or play. For stage managers the minimum stands at $2,225 for a musical and $1,913 for a play." BackStage 07/16/04
Posted: 07/16/2004 7:06 am

Publishing

His Post-Pulitzer World At 53, Edward Jones had his first novel published. It was greated with acclaim and won a Pulitzer Prize. But though the book has been optioned for a movie and, as Time magazine says he is "on top of the world," Jones lives a minimalist lifestyle. The Guardian (UK) 07/14/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 7:31 pm

Media

New Alliance To Copy-Protect Entertainment "Movie studios, computer chipmakers and consumer electronics companies said Wednesday they are working together to build a new copy-protection standard that would allow home viewers to watch and share high-definition video among various entertainment and portable devices, but prevent pirates from making perfect copies." Wired 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 6:47 pm

Video Now Tops Music Downloads Downloads of video have surpassed music. "Films and other files larger than 100MB are becoming the most requested downloads on networks around the world." Experts estimate that "at least 10 million people are logged on to a peer-to-peer (P2P) network at any time." BBC 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 5:58 pm

HBO Leads Emmy Nominations HBO takes a big lead in nominations for this year's Emmy awards. "The pay cable channel, which has now led the list of nominations four consecutive times, totally dominated the competition this year, taking in 124 nominations, up from its previous high of 109 last year. That was almost double the number of the nearest competitor, NBC, which this year took in just 65 nominations, down from 77 last year." The New York Times 07/15/04
Posted: 07/15/2004 5:22 pm


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